Filming experience!

A few weeks after the set design course was over, my friend Giacomo (see the Festival of the world at Southbank post) called me and told me that he was currently helping with the production of a short film by his friend Shinhye, and that they were looking for a location to shoot a few scenes. Since my flat was going to be free for the dates scheduled for the shooting, I gave my availability. I also offered to help with the set dressing, since I thought that would have been an interesting experience and an occasion for me to learn. I showed the flat to Shinhye and she really liked it. She was really thankful, as they were having troubles finding a good location for an affordable price.

The film is about a young working couple, Felix and Leanne, that live in a studio flat in London (my flat!). Everything seems to be going well, until Felix starts to fear that their relationship is falling apart. He then goes through a series of dreams and fantasies that his mind created out of the fear of losing his girlfriend.

The film was entirely shot in London, in 4 different locations: my flat, another flat and a cafe. A few scenes were also shot in the street. Three scenes were shot in my flat, two in the bedroom and one in the living room. In his dream, Felix wakes up in a dirty, messy flat, where he lives a different reality he created in his mind. My flat was chosen in contrasts to the other flat.

When the crew arrived (around thirteen people) I realised just how professional it was going to be. Giacomo and I took pictures of the shooting and helped with the preparation of the set and the props. We started shooting at 6 PM and finished at 3 AM. The crew included; the director (Shinhye), the producer (Giacomo), a director of photography, a cinematographer, a camera operator, a make up artist, two actors, a film slate guy.... and the camera was so big I feel like it should be included in the crew list. Everyone in the crew studied in the same school, London Film Academy, and the equipment also came from there.

The first room we set up was the bedroom. The scene was really simple, it involved Felix and Leanne going to bed. Nevertheless, the scene was shot several times as everything was done with great precision and even the smallest noise meant that another take was necessary. I never realised how many planes go past my area. Several shots of the same scene from different angles were done as well, to use later on during the editing.

For the second scene we moved to the living room. This scene was a bit more complicated and required more camera movements. Giacomo and I heated two dishes of carbonara that we needed as props for the dinner sequence. One of the members of the crew told us a trick they use in cinema to make a dish look hot and steamy. This involves hiding a tampon, that was previously dipped into boiling water, inside the dishes. We skipped that bit, we're not at that level just yet. One thing we had to be careful about was continuity. This means that if we had to shoot the same scene from different angles, it had to look as if the camera just changed position. We took a picture of the dishes of carbonara to make sure that they would look the same in every shot.

This was a great occasion for me to learn about the different phases of shooting a scene, the preparation of the set, the lighting, the sound, the camera movements. I never actually knew how long it takes to shoot a scene, and what should be taken into account when analysing the shots. Even though I often watch the behind-the-scenes of films, this experience gave me a much more in depth view of the making of a film. It was lovely to work with Shinhye, the crew was very considerate and made sure that the equipment was not damaging anything in the flat.